I love lower league football, and I’m not ashamed of it. The thrills, spills and unpredictability of Europe’s lower leagues make them in many ways far more interesting than the plastic, commercial, and over-hyped premier leagues. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent most of my life supporting a lower league team (Swansea have given me the chance to watch football in four tiers of English football) but I think lower league football has far more to offer than attendances would suggest.
My opinions aren’t shared by most Europeans. The unglamorous, under-publicised and devalued lower leagues are certainly unappreciated in most European nations, including some of the largest. So why is it that some countries embrace the lower leagues more than others? And are the large countries where the lower leagues aren’t appreciated, likely to change their attitudes anytime soon?
England, more than any other European country, appreciates its lower leagues. In no other country does professionalism extend so far down the football league ladder. Professionalism is mandatory in the top four tiers of English football, and is now the norm in the fifth tier. This is down to the high attendances clubs draw as far down as the fourth tier (seven League 2 clubs averaged over 5,000 fans last season, including Bradford City who averaged 11,128).
In sharp contrast to most countries in Europe, English fans have always felt passionately about their local clubs. There exists a sense that the local club represents the local area. Whereas in other countries, clubs in the fourth tier tend to draw small crowds, who tend to view these clubs in the same way as I’d view the local Sunday league side, fourth tier teams in England ignite passions and excite fans as well as any Premier League teams. There’s no better example of this than League 2’s bottom side, Plymouth Argyle.
Plymouth have been in dire financial troubles, and last summer had to sell much of their squad in order to stay alive. This season they’ve managed just two wins, but they’re still averaging around 6,000 for every home game, and hundreds travel to every away game. The fans have come out in energetic support of their local club at a difficult time, and it looks like their actions have saved this club, which is clearly a huge part of the community.
Compare this to the story of RC Strasbourg. The Alsatian club was once one of the giants of French football. League champions in 1979, they were in the UEFA Cup as recently as 2006. However the club was relegated in 2008 to Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Attendances dropped drastically, and the once great club found difficulty on and off the pitch. In 2010 they were relegated to National, the third tier of French football. The club faced huge financial troubles, and the 30,000 capacity Stade de la Meinau saw as few as 1,200 fans last season. When RCS dropped into the third tier, the local fans stopped caring to a large extent. I watched a few Racing matches in National, and it was spooky sitting in a large stadium, watching professional football with no more than a handful of true supporters.
Strasbourg’s last ever professional match was played behind closed doors due to the deteriorating situation at the club. It was a sad end for a great club. During the summer the club was liquidated and was reformed in the regional fifth tier.
Racing’s fans’ ambivalence towards the prospect of liquidation is a fair reflection of French fans’ attitudes towards lower league football. Last season Ligue 1’s average attendance was 19,742 (a disappointing figure itself), but Ligue 2’s average was less than a third of that. Four clubs in the second tier averaged less than 5,000. This is despite reasonable ticket prices and a large increase in national publicity for the league.
France’s case is hardly unique.
Earlier I mentioned English fans’ love of their local clubs. The same can’t be said of Spain, a country where the football culture is dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona. It’s tough enough for the other La Liga sides to attract fans (last season eight clubs in the top division failed to average 20,000 fans). So you can imagine how hard it must be for clubs in the Liga Adelante to get fans. Apart from the Seville-based giants, and last year’s champions, Real Betis, no club managed an average attendance above 15,000. This contrasts sharply with England’s second tier, where 16 out of 24 clubs averaged more than 15,000.
As well as the powerful lure of Barca and Real, there’s one other factor which devalues the Spanish lower leagues immensely. The majority of Spanish fans see lower league clubs’ sole raison d’être as opposition for aspiring youngsters, playing for the big clubs’ B-teams. In Spain the lower leagues are infested with the B-teams of La Liga sides, and thus many in Spain view the lower leagues in the same way as English fans view the reserve league. It devalues the competition hugely, and makes a mockery of other clubs that compete alongside the mini-Messis. The situation was made more farcical when last year, the league introduced a promotion play-off, similar to the hugely successful ones held in England. The aim was to generate excitement at the end of the season, as the third to sixth placed teams battled each other out for the last remaining promotion spot. Due to Barcelona B finishing 3rd, the play-offs were extended to include Valladolid, who finished 7th.
Italy’s lower leagues are possibly in a worse state than Spain’s. For in Spain the standard of football played in the Liga Adelante is remarkably high, considering the disgraceful funding and attention it receives.
In Italy the situation’s desperate. Serie B is seen as nothing more than a punishment for Serie A clubs that bribe referees. Last season over half the league averaged less than 5,000 per game, and Portogruaro-Summaga averaged just 1,369. Much like in Spain, efforts to strengthen the image of Serie B have largely failed, due in part to the priority given to the revival of Serie A, which itself has seen turnout shrink.
Funding is in short supply in Italy. Football has been touched by the effects of the economic crisis that has ravaged Italy. In recent years many smaller clubs have been forced to either close or merge with other clubs to create more sustainable outfits, such as FC Neapolis-Frattese. The brand new, modern stadia that we see in England’s lower leagues contrast with the crumbling health-hazards seen in Italy’s equivalent. Lower league football in Italy is struggling.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Germany’s 2 Bundesliga is flourishing. The rise in the standard of play over the last ten years, coupled with low ticket prices and a welcoming atmosphere have helped make the 2 Bundesliga an entertaining and widely-followed league. Last season the Olympiastadion in Berlin contained 77,116 fans for the Berlin derby between Hertha Bsc and Union Berlin. This was the largest post-war attendance for a second-tier football match in Europe.
The standard of football on show in the 2 Bundesliga has certainly improved recently. Gone are the battles of attrition, here to stay are elegant passing teams. Sky in Germany have picked up on the popularity of lower league football and have devoted much air-time to 2 Bundesliga matches. Though average attendances in the league are lower than in England, it’s clear that Germans value their lower leagues. This is partly due to the large number traditional teams that play in the lower leagues. Many of the great teams of the 50s, 60s and 70s are now plying their trades in various lower leagues, for example, Rot-Weiß Essen, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Munich 1860 and Eintracht Frankfurt. Lower league football in Germany is in a far better state than in France, Spain or Italy.
A quick look at the second tiers in each of these countries and you spot large clubs. In France the likes of Nantes, Lens and now Monaco (who have failed to adapt since their relegation last year, and now find themselves bottom of Ligue 2) have all dropped into Ligue 2. In Italy 1992 Champions League finalists Sampdoria are playing catch-up in Serie B following their shock relegation last year. Last year’s incredible relegation also means Deportivo La Coruña are in the Liga Adelante this year.
Unfortunately these big clubs don’t draw the huge attendances one would expect. In some cases big teams get largely forgotten when they drop out of the top divisions.
It’s sad that the globalisation of European football has led to the neglect of the lower leagues, for here we find the real beauty of football. These clubs aren’t viewed by millions of people every week, in places like Singapore, Los Angeles and Tokyo. These players don’t get paid £200,000 a week. These fans aren’t prawn sandwich eaters. These are regular clubs, that are the cornerstones of communities, and they provide character to towns and cities across Western Europe. We must protect our lower leagues and attempt to strengthen them, in tandem with the growth of Europe’s Premier Leagues.
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